The late afternoon sun parted
the level purple haze just long enough yesterday to cast City Hall in an amber
hue. It was like an Amber Alert for all of the taxpayers of Dallas ---our
city has been kidnapped.

Call 9-1-1 and hope the dispatchers aren't as disillusioned as everyone else.

In a performance that Tom Hanks would have envied, the City Manager chuckled
that the budget gods have not smiled on Dallas this year. No kidding.
But in Dallas, the Pied Piper media and the oblivious leaders did not whisper a
word of the idiocy that unleashed a $95 million torrent of red ink.

After the evening newscast delivered the grim news, my phone began to ring.
Neighbors and friends wanted to talk about the effect the budget cuts would have
on our little corner of the world. The sarcasm and gallows humor could
have made Letterman's monologue--the consensus being that our problems caused by
a broken government could not get worse.

If code enforcement in our part of Dallas (District 4 as it is known on Marilla)
is cut, so what? We don't have code enforcement. If animal control
means dog days year-round, won't mean a thing around here. The animals
roam free. Dirt alleys forever? We're used to it. Streets
modeled after a Kabul cut-off? We know how much a front end costs to get realigned.

We will notice that library hours are different. We will notice that grass
in the parks will grow tall and unfettered when the rains return. And we will
notice when Ron Kirk talks about the arena and the river during his campaign.
But the rest of it?

It's hard to subtract from zero.Editor's comment: Has Ron Kirk even mentioned the
arena deal or the Trinity Project in any of his promotional speeches? He
seems to be hoping the folks in North Texas have forgotten. sb

Ward politics is the
Devil's key to the soul of the city council. It is how some
council members got themselves in trouble in the past. It is
the bait that will get others in trouble in the future. 4/6/8